


Pizza Delivery

by Secret_ninja1



Category: Joker Game (Anime)
Genre: Gen, friendship at its finest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9706988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secret_ninja1/pseuds/Secret_ninja1
Summary: Hatano works at Pizza Hut. Fukumoto works at Domino's. Amari and Tazaki just wanted some pizza.A request from tumblr.





	

Tazaki flipped the lights on as he sorted through his roommate’s wallet for the money he needed for their dinner. A few wads of cash were tucked away and Tazaki pulled them out, along with two poorly clipped coupons that were wedged between the bills. He inspected the paper, reading them and discovering that they were discount coupons for two different pizza places.

Looking closer, he read the fine print at the bottom and noticed that they were both expiring today. “Hey, Amari?”

His friend was just across the room, seated on their couch and looking through the television channels for their movie night. While Tazaki was in charge of food, Amari was in charge of entertainment, and he wasn’t finding much this time. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to order pizza tonight? You have a coupon for Pizza Hut and Domino’s.”

“Do they deliver out here?”

Tazaki set the coupons down and started sorting the money. “Domino’s does, but I think Pizza Hut charges a fee.”

Amari shrugged and landed on an old black and white movie that just started, the background music wonky and distorted. He figured they could watch it for a while until he could find something better. “Pizza sounds nice.”

Tazaki counted the bills and pulled out his phone, dialing the first number.

* * *

 

Hatano stared down the dashboard of his car, eyeing the fly that was unfortunate enough to get itself trapped in his vehicle as he sat idle in the middle of a street. It was early evening and people from all over town were driving to get home and enjoy their dinner, so the heavy traffic was to be expected.

What he didn’t prepare for was having to sit in his car by a four-way intersection at a light that hadn’t turned green in over three minutes. The ten cars in front of him were too slow with the last light and it ended up costing him precious time that could have been spent delivering the stupid pizza that sat in his passenger seat, which was a pineapple and ham.

“Who puts pineapple on their pizza, seriously.” Hatano watched as the light finally turned green and the line was moving again, Hatano carefully pressing on the gas pedal as he inched behind the car in front of him. The roof was decorated with a sign that read “Domino’s” and Hatano rolled his eyes at the coincidence. It was a Friday night and pizza delivery was popular on the weekends, so he wasn’t very surprised to see his company’s rival to be drifting among the traffic like the rest of them were.

Hatano managed to get past the intersection, finally, and down the road that he familiarized himself with to learn the routes. The congestion didn’t cease even after the people around him had made turns or switched into the other lanes, the man forced to slam on his brakes on multiple occasions when another light came up or people were slowing down for whatever reason.

Hatano looked down at the clock on his radio, the time informing him that he spent over fifteen minutes in traffic alone. Whoever was ordering the pizza wasn’t going to be pleased by the time he would get there, but he supposed it was their fault for living so far out from the city limits for it to be considered an on-time delivery.

Another ten minutes went by and Hatano was finally seeing a difference. The longer he drove, the less apartment complexes he saw and more rural housing that was spread further away from the next, real lawns and fences separating them. “The rich neighborhood,” Hatano commented to himself, glancing at the houses while still maintaining focus on the road. The traffic wasn’t so bad anymore, Hatano finally getting up to the speed limit and setting a comfortable pace that didn’t require him to be alert of sudden stops.

Funnily enough, the Domino’s car was still in front of him. He knew they didn’t have a limit policy like his company did, not a very strict one at least, but he was genuinely impressed that he had been following the driver for seven miles. Who knew that they were delivering to the same neighborhood at the same time.

Hatano kept an eye out on the addresses further down the road while still managing to give himself some space between his car and the next. An acquired skill he picked up after a few years of working at the pizza joint, and one he was proud of. As he spotted his delivery numbers scrawled on the side of an upcoming mailbox, he flicked his turn signal on just as the Domino’s car had done the same and he found himself pulling into the driveway behind it, his bumper nearly sticking out into the road with the lack of room.

Hatano reached for the pizza and secured it in his arm before he opened his door and watched his company rival’s employee step out of his car. He was tall and wore his uniform hat on his head, a large pizza box balanced on his forearm as he shut the door behind him. He turned and noticed Hatano standing there and nodded, but Hatano wasn’t sure if he was so surprised to find a second delivery guy. His stoic expression was hard to decipher, but Hatano supposed it didn’t matter much.

They both silently walked up the driveway and stood beside one another as Hatano took the responsibility of knocking on the front door. It was always a guessing game when he was out dropping off pizza, wondering how long it would take for the person to get there, or what they looked like, but all Hatano really cared about was getting paid and going home after such a long day of driving. It was his last delivery stop of the night, so his impatience was understandable.

After about a minute of silence, Hatano knocked again, this time louder, in hopes that the person inside would have heard it the second time around. He was positive that his customer was not one of their usual prank orders, but because of the Domino’s guy next to him, now he wasn’t so sure.

“You think it’s a prank?” The guy beside him mumbled, as if reading Hatano’s mind. He was standing still, his stare straight at the door as if waiting for it to open any second.

“Maybe.” Hatano wasn’t really comfortable talking to a complete stranger on another complete stranger’s doorstep, but he’d been in worse situations.

“I can try calling and see if they pick up?”

Hatano never remembered the numbers that called for orders, but he figured it was worth a shot. So, as the guy fished his phone from his pocket and searched for the supposed number, Hatano kept himself busy and eyed the chipping mahogany paint on the door, the sides of it revealing what was once an eggshell white. He could feel the pizza warming his hands as he observed the rest of the front porch, casting a glance behind his shoulder to look at the potted plants under the porch light that illuminated the small space.

After a minute of the other holding his phone to his ear, getting no response, and no sign of anyone answering the door, Hatano decided that it was time to give it up. Just as he was preparing to turn around, the man beside him spoke.

“Hey.”

Hatano stopped and allowed himself to humor the guy.

The man wore a grin on his face and motioned to the large box in his hands. “I’ve got a cheese and mushroom pizza.”

Hatano looked down at the one he was holding. “I’ve got a pineapple and ham.”

“Seriously?” The guy looked more amused than disgusted. “I’ll trade you.”

“I mean, sure, but I’m probably going to look suspicious when I bring back a Domino’s box to work.”

“I meant we can just eat it now before heading back.”

Hatano paused and looked at him for a few seconds. “On someone’s front porch?”

The man shrugged. “I’ve done it before. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“What if we get caught?”

“Then we drop the pizza and run to our cars. It’s easier if you pull your hat lower so they don’t see your face.”

Hatano had a feeling that he had done something like this before.

Did he care though?

* * *

 

“You know, pineapple on pizza isn’t as bad as you think.” Fukumoto, Hatano had learned his name, was keen on letting him know that the tropical fruit tasted just fine mixed with cheese and pizza sauce.

They were seated on the ground under the porch light, both of their backs against the wooden railing that went around the house. Each of them had the other’s box of pizza in their lap and Hatano was already on his third piece. “I’ll stick with the cheese and mushroom.”

Fukumoto shrugged and finished his fourth, finally slowing down and resting against the railing. “What made you work at Pizza Hut?” Fukumoto didn’t usually strike up conversation with anyone outside of his close friends, but meeting another delivery worker on his last shift didn’t happen often and he felt that it was worth asking questions.

“To pay my way through college. Not the greatest pay, but it’s not the worst job you could have.” Hatano decided to take a break and close the flap to the box and keep the remaining pizza warm for later. “What about you?”

“Free pizza.”

Hatano laughed, stretching out his legs after crossing them for so long. “Do you get null orders like this often?”

Fukumoto shook his head. “Some of my coworkers go out and get a few prank calls sometimes and come back with the pizza, so we just choose to wait and eat it ourselves before we leave.”

“Then shouldn’t you be getting back to them instead of staying here?”

“Last week one of them ate my share of the pizza, so I’m eating his share without him knowing.”

Hatano grinned. “I like your logic, Fukumoto.”

“I try.”

The conversation eventually quieted as they nibbled at the rest of the food they had, both of them calling it quits about seven pizzas through and unanimously deciding that they should head back to work and finally clock out. They would be late if they stayed there any longer.

They walked to their cars and Hatano promised to see him on one of his delivery routes one of these days before he backed out of the driveway and watched Fukumoto’s car follow him into town. It wasn’t until Hatano was almost to his work that the other’s car had turned a corner and went down another road where Domino’s was located.

Hatano parked into the near-vacant lot of his work and went inside, only one other customer standing in line to pick up a last-minute pizza. Hatano maneuvered his way around the back and went about his rounds in the kitchen before clocking out. He saw one of his co-workers follow him out, pulling his uniform hat off and holding the door open for Hatano.

“What took you so long?” Kaminaga loitered behind him, eyeing the box in his arms that had a different logo printed on the top. “You traitor.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? You know, like in your car and away from me?” Hatano spotted Kaminaga’s car on the other side of the parking lot, sitting there and waiting for Kaminaga like the faithful chunk of metal that it was.

“Not really. I didn’t think you stopped by Domino’s on the way back from your delivery, though.” Kaminaga leaned against the side of Hatano’s car as the other unlocked it. He took the box from Hatano and waited until he was seated inside to pass it to him. “I won’t ask any questions.”

“Good, because it’s a long story.” Hatano didn’t feel like explaining himself to his friend, mostly because he realized that what he did seemed illegal to some extent. But then again, the customer never answered the door, and therefor never paid for the pizza.

Hatano even made a new friend because of it.

* * *

 

Amari stirred awake and lifted his head from where it was resting on Tazaki’s shoulder on the couch, the man blinking away his drowsiness as his eyes came into focus. The television was playing another black and white movie like before, only it looked a bit newer than the last one that had put the two men to sleep.

Amari yawned and looked at his roommate, noticing that he was passed out against one of the throw pillows propped up against his side and the arm of the couch. Glancing around, he yawned again and absently wondered when the food they had ordered would arrive. He looked down at the watch on his wrist and took in the time, his eyes widening at the realization.

“Shit!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am pro-pineapple on pizza, fight me.


End file.
